European Parliament held plenary session on the influence of Russian propaganda on EU countries Wednesday

Members of the European Parliament are alarmed about Russia’s propaganda influence on EU countries, and suggested strengthening the EU strategic communication team, in a debate on Wednesday. This was reported on the site of the parliament.

“Kremlin-orchestrated leaks, fake news, disinformation campaigns and cyber-attacks against the EU and its member states have all increased since the war in Ukraine, stressed MEPs in a debate with Security Union Commissioner Sir Julian King. They highlighted Russian meddling in Brexit, but also in recent elections in France, Germany and Spain,” the message says.

MEPs noted the EU’s limited response, noting that the EU’s tiny 17-strong strategic communication team is striving to counteract Russian propaganda tools, such as Sputnik or Russia Today, that have a billion euro backing.

To improve EU resilience to these tools, MEPs called for measures to improve media literacy, raise awareness, promote independent and investigative journalism, and revise the EU audiovisual directive so as to mandate national regulators to enforce zero tolerance of hate speech.